Monday, August 30, 2010

Both Dennis Bryant and Michael Grey have written about mobile phone distractions on ships. Is it really a problem? As Mr. Grey reminded us on Clay Maitland's blog there have been several cases of mobile phone distractions on the bridge. They include:

A watch officer on a bulker who was talking to his wife and failed to make a course change

A master talking with his agent drifted out of the channel in Southampton

A master of a supply vessel leaving a Scottish port in thick fog did not hear the Port Operator warning him of an approaching break wall because he was on an urgent call on his cell phone

A master on a passenger ship being hounded by the press on his cell phone about the engine trouble his vessel was experiencing

The National Transportation Safety Board has even issued an advisory on the use of mobile phones and wireless devices when operating vessels. But mobile phones aren't the only distraction on the bridge. Ryan Skinner revealed you can watch your favorite YouTube video on the ECDIS machine!

Bridge distraction is something we take seriously at Amver. One of the reasons we encourage the use of the Amver/SEAS software is to help cut down on the amount of paperwork and reporting vessels must do in order to actively participate. There are other ways to report to Amver as well. If you are a subscriber to the Pole Star Fleet Management software product you can elect to have your position reports sent automatically (link to pdf) to the Amver center.

Thanks for chiming in Barista. I think, like with cars and other modes of transportation, you will see increasing attention placed on driver distraction. It is common sense that drivers (of cars, airplanes, or boats) shouldn't be texting OR chatting it up on their mobile phones.

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